My Tourniquet, My Desert Blossom
by Mecha Otaku
Summary: Sakura Haruno has lost everything. Her parents, Sasuke, Naruto. And now that she's decided to pull her life back together again, can she face her new mission without letting her emotions get in the way? GaaraXSakura.
1. Introduction

Author's note: this is a Naruto story with an FMA crossover. I know, those too animes don't seem like the type to go together, but I'm just using some of the ideas, not any characters and the such. It's romance, but has a lot of other genre's put into it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or FMA, however much I want to T.T

Sakura Haruno stared out the window of her apartment at the stale gray landscape. The rain pounded relentlessly at the foggy opaque glass. The whole _world_ seemed to be crying. Crying for her lost friends, and family. Naruto, Sasuke, her parents. The world had crashed on her shoulders exactly three days ago. Sasuke had been taken over by Orochimaru, but the jutsu Orochimaru had used to transfer souls had been incomplete and maimed. The result was a completely deformed and morbid paper white image of Sasuke, half snake pedophile, and half himself. But although only half Orochimaru, the Hokage Tsunade didn't want to take her chances with the legendary Sanin gone bad. So, she scheduled to have Sasuke _executed _at the town square. That was a week ago. Although Sakura Haruno had stopped loving the Uchiha years ago, she couldn't help but feel a small twinge of pain as the teen was killed. But it didn't really have a lasting affect. Sakura Haruno saw the new Sasuke before, and had realized that it wasn't really the Sasuke she had crushed on, the Sasuke that had been her accomplice.

Unfortunately, the one to have fought and brought the Uchiha back to Konoha was Naruto. He'd done it with out knowing Sasuke's fate once brought back. And three days ago, he jumped off a cliff.

Sakura felt horrible, much worse then she felt with Uchiha's death. But now, she was shedding the tears she had held back, wishing to go back to the time when Team 7 was together, when everyone was still _alive_. But of course, that time had passed, and Inner Sakura was pissed...

Inner Sakura-**CHA! Are you gonna just let your whole life break apart over the death of a couple of losers like Naruto and Sasuke? Gimme a break!**

Sakura-_Come on, get a heart! They were comrades, FRIENDS! I just can't stand losing so much in so little time!_

Inner Sakura-**Yeah well, you can't change the past, so move on already!**

Sakura-_NO! _

Inner Sakura-**Well, if you loved Uchiha or Naruto so much, then hurry up and get a boyfriend! CHA! Do ANYTHING but stay and mope like this! I'm freaking BORED!**

Sakura-_Well, fine if you insist...But I won't get a boyfriend! All I'm gonna do is find someone to train me! Because I need to get stronger to protect the ones I love! Although there are almost none TO protect right now..._

Inner Sakura-**HELL YES! IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU FORGOT ABOUT THAT LOSER UCHIHA!**

So the next day, Sakura Haruno marched right up to the Fifth Hokage Tsunade, and demanded a teacher.


	2. An Epidemic, And A Crappy Mission

Authors Note: NO, Sakura does not meet Gaara yet in this chapter, she does in the next. Sorry, it's not that long. GaaraXSaku . Naruto/FMA crossover. w00t

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, however much I want to, or FMA T.T

Sakura quickly stalked into Tsunade-sama's office.

"Tsunade-sama, I've been thinking, and I have realized that I need a sensei to teach me to be stronger! So, will you teach me?" Sakura said quickly.

"Sakura, I am a very busy person, as 5th Hokage, and I would like to teach you myself, but I don't have the time. How about, I teach you in medics for one year, and then I find someone who can train you better in the ways of a shinobi?" In truth, Tsunade really just wanted to make it up to Sakura for ordering Sasuke to be executed.

And so, day after that, Sakura Haruno, level Chuunin ninja, began her training as a medic.

./Time Skip: 1 Year\:.

Sakura breathed deeply, before suddenly unleashing a torrent of chakra into her patient's wound. The deep cut emitted a green light as it healed. Sakura smiled, but then frowned. Was this all she was going to do all her life? Help heal minor injuries in some screwed up ninja hospital? Hn. She left the room as a nurse came in to aid the patient.

Haruno was walking aimlessly in the seemingly endless corridors of Konoha's hospital. She felt lost, as if she wasn't fulfilling her goal. It was just then when it hit her, when she began to understand the cause of her incompetence…

./In Sunagakure\:.

Sabaku no Gaara, the Kazekage of the Sand Village was having a VERY. BAD. DAY.

Although Gaara had governed the city with absolute accuracy, something had gone wrong. Some sort of unknown epidemic was spreading throughout the city, and there weren't enough medics to go around. Hell, there wasn't even an antidote for the disease. It started with people just coughing, then high fevers, then eventually, they would fall into a coma. The weaker ones just died during the second faze of high fevers, without even going into unconsciousness. A little over half the Sunagakure's citizens were sick. And on top of that, many of the medics were dead already.

The air smelled sickly and musty, as if the air itself was infected. 'Which it just may be' He thought ironically. How true he was.

./With Sakura\:.

Inner Sakura-**You idiot! One year ago, you told yourself that you wanted to protect the ones you love, and now that you're doing it, you aren't fulfilled! DAMMIT! The hell is wrong with you?**

Sakura-_That's just it! I promised that I would protect **the ones I love**. And currently, I **have no one to love**. That's it! I just feel…useless…_

Inner Sakura-**Is that all you ever feel? Sorrow and uselessness? Have you forgotten about when you were with team 7? You were useless there too! All you ever did was panic. Shouldn't you have got over that feeling of uselessness years ago? CHA!**

Sakura-_twitch Damn, you're annoying, but you're right too. I just need to find someone to love, and it will be all better! Thanks!_

Inner Sakura-**I NEVER SAID FOR YOU TO LOVE SOMEONE! T.T**

So, Sakura Haruno walked back into Tsunade's office later that day, and requested a new teacher.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sensei, but I need to find some one else who can teach me! Maybe some place where I could be more useful." Sakura stated with a blank diplomatic face.

"Well, actually, Sakura. I was planning to let you go anyway. I have already taught you all I can. To learn anything else, you need to go to someone with more skills as a shinobi. All I have taught you is healing. And you need some more experience as a ninja. I think I know where I will send you…"

./With Gaara\:.

"Kazekage-sama, we need to ask The Village Hidden In The Leaves for medical reinforcement! Our village is in crisis-"

Shukaku-**Tch, as if you didn't know this already!** **Just kill the bastard, he's disturbing your peace, right?**

"people are dying-" 'I know…'

Gaara-_But I'm the Kazekage now. I have to give up the killing, and save it for missions and other shit like that…_

"we need to do something quickly" 'Then old man, I suggest you shut up right now…'

Shukaku-**Then don't blame me if you die of old age before the goddamn advisor shuts up…**

"Please, sir, Konoha has an alliance with Suna-"

Gaara-_…_

"Okay, I've heard enough! JUST. SEND. THE. FUCKING. MISSION REQUEST. TO. KONOHA!" (hyperventilates)

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE? YOU BASTARD, SEND THE MISSION REQUEST ALREADY!" The advisor got the hint and ran for his sorry life.

./With Sakura and Tsunade\:.

"I'm sending you to Sunagakure, on both a mission and to gain experience. You'll be living with the other medics in the staff rooms of the Sunagakure hospital. The mission request just came in today. They want you to help them research the antidote to an epidemic that is spreading in their city, and you have to report directly to the Kazekage. Good luck."

Inner Sakura-**great. So now you'll be reporting to some crusty old geezer. That's wonderful…**

Sakura-_For once I agree with you…_

"Okay, (twitch), when do I leave (twitch, twitch)? Heh heh heh…" 'Shit this sucks…'


	3. Kazekage Ice Cube

Authors Note: Sorry for the long wait. I normally would have updated before now, but some things got in my way, and I never got to do it. This one's longer then my other ones though…

Note 2: I have decided that as long as summer vacation is still here, I WILL NOT UPDATE ON WEEKENDS. I'll use weekends as a break.

Note 3: This story will have EVENTUAL GaaXSaku, and some SasuXSaku one-sided. However, I don't believe in making people fall for other people in an unnatural super fast way, so Sakura and Gaara will ease into a relationship, NOT just start making out for no reason in the beginning. It may take a while, but I think this is the only way to keep them completely in character.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, FMA, Gaara, Sakura, or any of that.

Sakura Haruno threw some clothes, water, weapons, and other necessities into her backpack. Looking at her watch, she realized that she still had thirty minutes until she had to leave for Sunagakure. Slowly trudging out the door, she made her way up the street to Konohagakure's main cemetery. She walked up and down the isles of tombstones until she found the two marked 'Uzumaki Naruto' and 'Uchiha Sasuke'. The young medical nin sat on the still freshly turned dirt in front of Naruto's grave.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm sorry, Sasuke. I wasn't strong enough to help you guys. I wasn't even strong enough to fend for myself. I always stood behind the scenes, didn't I? Maybe, just maybe, if I were braver, I could have been more _useful_. I failed you. I failed **everyone**, DAMMIT!" Sakura muttered. Tears began to fall from her emerald eyes, but she wiped them away instantly on reflex. Sighing, Sakura stood up and walked away to the gates of Konoha…

./In Sunagakure, 5 hours later, 7 PM\\:.

Gaara felt like bashing his head against a rock. Of all people, the just HAD to send that little_ weakling_ Haruno. And besides the fact that she would probably be of no use to Suna, he would have to TALK to her. Which was embarrassing, considering that he tried to kill her before.

Gaara-_Right. I'll just act like I never tried to annihilate her. Maybe she forgot. I'll just act calm, and she won't notice ANYTHING…_

Shukaku-**Give it a rest, kid. She probably forgot all about you by now. She probably won't even notice that you're Subaku no Gaara. Don't sweat it. And even if she does recognize you, she probably won't care…**

Gaara-_Damn, I'm trying to figure out how to talk to Haruno, and you are NOT helping at all…_

Shukaku-**Whatever, if you don't want my _genius_ advice, then too bad, it's your loss... **

./At The Gates of Konoha\\:.

Sakura Haruno took a deep breath, and walked towards the gates of Sunagakure.

'This is weird. There's no guards or anything here…' Sakura thought. 'Such a famous, powerful, and large village such as Sunagakure should at least be able to afford putting guards up…'

As soon as Sakura entered the village, an EXTREMELY disturbing scent reached her nose. A sickly wave of heat seemed to wash over her, as she coughed. 'Damn, this place **smells** infected…' As she walked up the street, she saw many people walking aimlessly, coughing, and even retching on the sides of the road. Now Sakura felt disgusted. 'Shit, this is way worse then I thought…no wonder the Kazekage sent a request for medical nin…'

Seeing this, she ran to the Kazekage tower. It was a really strange looking building, made of sandstone, but it was HUGE. Countless shaded walkways seemed to sprout of the main sphere like building, like roots of a tree. Sakura ran up one of the 'roots' and into the Kazekage tower. As soon as she was inside, she seemed to step into a whole other world. It was spacious and huge, but seemed to lack one thing- people. It was empty except for a secretary at the main desk, and few medical ninja walking up and down the halls. Approaching the secretary, Sakura pulled off her hidden leaf headband and presented it to the woman.

"I'm Sakura Haruno, medical ninja. I came here on a mission request from Sunagakure." She stated.

"Oh, your finally here I see. Your orders to meet with the Kazekage as soon as you got here. And also, about your lodgings-originally, we had planned on having you live in the staff section of Suna's hospital, but there has been a change of plans. You see, there have been many more sick people then the beds, so we had to use the staff rooms as well. And even so, there wasn't enough room for even half the sick and wounded, so we even converted all but the very top and bottom levels into a makeshift clinic. I'm sure you have noticed the other medical ninja in the here? Your room will be room next to the lab on the 6th floor. There's a door connecting the lab and your room, so you can easily access it when you want." The secretary stated before returning to her work

"Hai" Sakura walked up the stairs, until she reached the top level. Then she walked up and down the hall until she found the door labeled 'Kazekage'. Preparing herself mentally for a long and tedious talk with whom she assumed an old man, she walked in to find---

A 17 year old bishi-honen by the name of Gaara. Wait.

Gaara.

The psychopath.

The deemed insane killer.

The bloodthirsty freak who tried to kill her before.

Was the damn Kazekage.

What.

The.

Fuck?

(hyperventilates) Oh, hi, Gaara! Heh heh…heh…"'Oh Shit. I'm acting like an idiot…WHY AM I ACTING LIKE AN IDIOT?' (mentally punches self)

"…" Gaara was either at a loss of words, or just didn't feel like talking. 'Weakling…why'd they send a weakling like her? She won't help at all…'

It was then that Sakura decided, that hot guy or not, _Kazekage_ or not, he was still more of a cold ice cube then Sasuke ever was.

"Look, just give me the damn mission, will you?" Sakura demanded, a little pissed at Gaara's lack of speech.

"…Just go to the lab on floor 6 and try to figure something out on the disease or something…or go to the hospital or the other floors of this place and help heal some people…Suna has a lack of medical ninja right now…" Gaara said coldly, never once looking up from his paperwork.

Now Sakura was EXTREMELY pissed. This guy had some SERIOUS emotional problems. (cough)psycho(cough, cough)

Backing out of the room, Sakura walked down seven flights of stairs and reached the 6th floor. Walking into her room, she dumped her stuff on the bed and changed from her travel worn clothes into her separate outfit of much-hated fishnets 1 and light pink before entering the laboratory. 5 other medical nin were at workstations, analyzing samples of hair and blood under microscopes and in test tubes.

Sakura sighed, and got to work.

./With Gaara\\:.

Subaku no Gaara, the Kazekage of Sunagakure was sitting at his desk doing paperwork. He was bored. Shoving the papers to the side of his desk, he looked out the window. Then, as soon as he faced his desk yet again, he began to feel dizzy. Before passing out, he noticed faint red clouds seemingly floating along sandstone floor…2 (if you've watched the FMA anime, then you should have a faint idea of what it is…)

Foot Notes:

1 I'm not completely up to date with the Naruto manga (I'm downloading the manga scans off of but so far, I have never seen Sakura Haruno wear fishnets. She's always in that red yukata thing…

2 O.O Russell and Fletcher…


	4. An Introdution To Alchemy

A/N: I don't think I managed to describe the scene in the beginning of the organ samples and stuff…slightly grosteque. Not grosteque enough for me. Skip the beginning description if you are one of those with the bad combination of really weak stomachs and great imaginations…

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, FMA, the "Red Water" idea (that belongs to FMA), Sakura Haruno, or Subaku no Gaara. TT

Sakura Haruno sat in her stool, peering into her microscope. On her glass slide was a tiny drop of blood, taken from an infected ninja. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. There were red blood cells cluttered among the clear fluid, giving it a pinkish red tint. Sighing, she stood up and walked to the other side of the lab, where labeled jars were stacked up to the ceiling. The jars contained specific pickled organs of the dead that had agreed to donate to the cause of medical advancement. It was an eerie sight; oddly shaped lumps floating around in greenish water, bobbing up and down, slightly reflecting at the small amount of light given off by a desk lamp. The young kunoichi selected a jar from the shelf that was labeled 'lung', containing a small fragment of the main channel of a person's infected lung.

Haruno pulled on some rubber disposable gloves and an air mask. Tucking the jar under her arm, she walked over to her research desk. Opening a cabinet under the table, she carefully selected the right tools for dissection. Using a pair of metal tongs, she lifted the sample of lung (complete with bits of flesh protruding off of it) onto the plastic tray.

Inner Sakura-**YAY! CUTTING! This is gonna be KEWL!**

Sakura-_You have a seriously sick mind…this is gonna be DISGUSTING…_

Inner Sakura-**Humph, you're no fun…**

Rolling her eyes are her inner self, Haruno got to work. She carefully took the thin knife and made a small slit. The _thing_ made a disturbing squelching noise. Bracing her self, she made another slit, now with a sickening crunching sound, this time piercing in to the lung, instead of grazing the surface. To her complete distaste, a reddish gas started to come out. Quickly fumbling with her cabinet, she found a small plastic bag. Holding the opening over the piece of lung, she let a small amount of the gas into the bag before sealing it.

Placing the sealed bag into a plastic box, which was then placed into her cabinet and locked, she decided that she was in for enough disturbing scenes for the day. Opening the locked door to her room, she headed for the shower.

Half an hour later, she pulled on some clothes (with more fishnets) and decided that it was time to report to the "Kazekage-sama". Rolling her eyes, she headed out the door. Being tired this time she took the elevator to the top level. Once again, she paced the large hall, searching for the office. Finding it, she knocked on the door.

No answer.

Knocked again.

No answer.

Knocked once more.

Still no damned answer.

Now slightly pissed, Sakura decided that she should just OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR HERSELF.

The moment she opened the door, she was greeted by an unpleasant stench.

'What the hell is that? Ugh, DISGUSTING!' Holding her nose, she entered the room once again. And what did she find?

The Kazekage lying on unconscious on the ground. Of course, that was the first thing she noticed. The second would be the all-too-familiar red gas floating around in the room. Working quickly, she dragged the Kazekage out of the room and shut the door…

Subaku no Gaara woke up to a rather _unpleasant_ headache. Coughing slightly, he forced himself to sit up. A quick scan of the surrounding area told him that he was in the hallway just outside his office, with Sakura Haruno sitting on the carpeted floor before him.

"Ne, what happened?" Gaara muttered. Sakura sighed. This was gonna be a really **long** explanation…

"I was in the laboratory dissecting a lung sample. And when I cut it open, some sort of…reddish gas came out. I managed to get a sample of it before it drifted away…anyway, I came up here to tell you about the discovery, and I walked into your office to find you unconscious. So, what the hell happened?" That would be putting it blunt.

"I was in the office, facing the window. And when I turned around, there was this strange red stuff in the air. Dunno anything else…" Gaara muttered.

This information got Sakura wondering. Gaara said that he was facing the window, which was on the other side of the room. Then, when he looked back, there was red in the air. But the gas couldn't have got into the room through the door, or else it would be in the halls too…So the only other way would be…**the air conditioning system**…

Sakura told the Kazekage what she had inferred, and he agreed that it was the only way the gas could have come in.

"But there's several factors we need to consider…the furnace and the air conditioning mechanism is way below the Kazekage's tower. And by way below the tower, I mean hundreds of feet. And the pipe leading to my office is separate from the rest of the pipes. It was 'supposed' to be a safety precaution…" Gaara seemed deep (er) in thought (then normal, if that's possible…). "One other thing, there's only one stair case leading to the furnace and pipes, and that one's extremely unstable…"

As said by Ino Yamanaka, 'Billboard Brow's' forehead wasn't there for just nothing. Behind it was a VERY big brain capable of calculating, with precision, the perfect plans (at least in theory).

If the pipes were hundreds of feet below the surface, then it was HIGHLY possible that the red gas was some sort of toxic substance that resided in places like wells and mine shafts.

Later that day, Sakura Haruno and Subaku no Gaara were descending the steps to the furnace. Gaara was holding an oil lamp, and Sakura was doing her best at keeping hold of her _wits_. The place was so dark that it looked like it could be the steps descending to the pits of Hell it's self. Gaara, being lost in his own world (as usual) didn't even _bother_ to notice the kunoichi's obvious discomfort.

The two reached the moist, earthen ground below, walking ahead into the dark abyss, before…

Sakura cursed her overly large forehead for the millionth time in her life. The "billboard brow" had collided with a piece of wood jutting out of the dirt wall.

"SHIT! Ahhh, PAIN!" the kunoichi howled as she rubbed the growing bump on her head. Gaara wasn't exactly paying attention to said kunoichi's shrieks. He was alittle more interested in the wood that she had walked into.

The fact was, that there was a rather limited supply of wood in the village of Sunagakure. All except the richer upper-class citizens of Suna lived in sandstone buildings. Even the people who could afford more costly homes lived in sandstone buildings, just with wooden interiors. No one would waste something worth so much in Suna by burying it six (hundred) feet under.

Gaara focused his chakra into his sand, forcing it against the loose dirt wall, before grinding the sand into the dirt. Pulling the sand back into his gourd, Gaara narrowed his eyes at what remained of where the dirt once was. Well, that explained the wood that Sakura had so _idiotically _knocked into. It was a huge shelf of dusty looking books, their pages yellowed with age. Gaara pulled one out. It was titled:

"_An Introduction To Alchemy_"

MY THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED I decided, I'm gonna write something back to the reviews in the bottom on the stories (right here). 

**Silver Element**- O.O are you kidding me? I suck at writing, this is my…2nd story I ever wrote. You are one of my FAVORITE authors. I love your series! Thanks for the review! I can't wait for the next chapter of your story! Update soon! - my happy bat chibi face

**Kyoluver- **Thanks! I'm glad peoplez are actually reading this!  my happy chibi face 

**Slaymyheart- **nuuuuu, as u can see, I DID NOT kill Gaara off. I'd have to be a heartless cruel btch to do that. Well, I actually am going to do that, but not in this series. I was thinking about another series I'm gonna do. It's gonna be romance/tragedy/angst. Don't worry, I'll try not to do any more character deaths (besides Naruto and Sasuke) in this series. .  my freaky AND happy chibi face

LOLZ ph34r my SKILLZ! Heh, I used a DIFFERENT CHIBI FACE FOR EACH OF THE REPLIES! OH YEAH! Hah…I'M EBIL! NOT EVIL, BECAUSE I'M BETTER THEN THAT! I AM EBIL! **EBIL EBIL EBIL EBIL EBIL EBIL EBIL**!(K, I'm done being random…)

Sorry if this chappie took longer then intended. I just didn't wanna get off my lazy ass…


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